


Let's Go Ghost Hunting!

by InkDrawnDreamer



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Boxman is a part-time paranormal blogger, College Roommate AU, Gift for voxymoxyboxy, M/M, Mostly venomous-pov, Oneshot, Venomous is a biology major, the boys are invover their heads, venomous goes back to school after losing his powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkDrawnDreamer/pseuds/InkDrawnDreamer
Summary: This is my gift for voxymoxyboxy on tumblr through this year's voxman secret santa. Their prompt was "ghost hunting AU where Voxman does it for fun and his college roommate Venomous tags along to investigate a haunted house on the edge of town". I really had fun with this idea.
Relationships: Lord Boxman/Professor Venomous
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	Let's Go Ghost Hunting!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it Erika! Sorry this took so long. Thanks for your patience!

"What is _up_ young people? No, no that doesn't sound right."

Venomous raised an eyebrow on reflex. What was that idiot doing now?

"Ladies and gentlemen! No, too old-fashioned."

He approached the door slowly. It was only open a crack.

"It needs to be short and sweet. How about-" He pulled two finger guns, swerving around just in time to face his roommate as the door flew open. _"Heeey..._ ah! Vee, what are you doing here?"

His eyes flickered back and forth across the room, taking in the mess of filming equipment that surrounded his flustered roommate. "Coming back from class. Because it's my room. What are you doing exactly?"

"Ah, uh, um..." Boxman couldn't settle on the right words. It was clear enough what he was doing without an explanation, so Venomous simply strode across the floor to his desk.

"So, where are you going tonight?" he asked without looking up from the textbook he was thumbing through.

There, that was an easier question to answer. "Well, tonight I'll be checking out an abandoned chateau on the edge of town."

"Really now."

"Yep. It got a lot of fan requests. And I figured it would be a good place to test out my new infrared lens." Boxman's voice flowed a lot more easily once he could refocus the subject away from his own embarrassment. This was only one of many minor episodes that Venomous had stumbled into since they started sharing a dorm. This was the first time in a few weeks though, which was an improvement he attributed to their schedules becoming more synchronized. It used to be that one of them would have the dorm to themselves for hours until their own classes started, and they wouldn't necessarily see the other until well after they finished their day. One usually got up just as the other was going to bed, so their routines were often the reverse of one another's during the week. Back when Venomous was doing more night classes, there were way too many incidents of one of them drunkenly waking the other up, or walking in on each other changing. He shuddered involuntarily at the memory. He was never going live that last time down...

"Uh, you okay there Vee?" Crap. He didn't realize Boxman was still talking.

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "So, what time do you think you'll be getting in tonight?"

"Eh, probably not until after one. I could probably go before midnight if I felt like it, but I don't quite feel like fighting the friday night traffic," Boxman trailed off. He sounded strangely nervous. In general, he seemed to alternate between shameless overconfidence and anxious embarrassment, and this moment was quickly dipping toward the latter. Venomous did not understand the sudden turn, but Boxman's next statement might have had something to do with it. "You know, if you ever―I mean―if you _wanted_ to, you could always tag along."

Huh. Well that was new. He had never asked for company before. It was enough to make Venomous curious, if nothing else. Boxman's eyes were glued to the floor, and he was rubbing his neck absentmindedly while he waited for an answer.

Interested or not, it wasn't a good time, so Venomous had to refuse. "I've got a lab due tomorrow morning. Not a great night to stay out late."

"Oh it wouldn't be long at all! We could leave early and be done by nine or ten," Boxman said hurriedly.

Venomous shot him an apologetic smile. "Maybe next time."

Boxman's face fell, but surprisingly, he did not complain. Only grumbled under his breath while he continued to pack up his equipment. Venomous turned his attention back to his textbook without paying it any more mind. He already did the experiment he needed for the lab, but he still had to finish writing up the report. He had done probably a dozen like it just in this semester, but they rarely took this long. There were more test subjects than he was used to, and his notes were not as detailed as usual. He got halfway through his third paragraph before he bothered to bring out his results chart, and it took only a minute after that to realize that it wasn't in his folder. Oh cob, he must have left it in the lab. Venomous grumbled, carefully maneuvering around the film equipment that littered the floor before making his way down the hall in a huff.

The science building was next door to the dormitory, but his class was on the far side of the building, just far enough away to be a hassle. He was so relieved to reach the classroom that he completely missed the sign on the door until he was leaving with his charts in hand. He squinted at the small letters on the sign―12/15 BIOCHEMISTRY-202 CLASS CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER.

He groaned. He wasn't the biggest fan of snow but it was in no way bad enough outside to waste his tuition with a cancellation. By the time he finished his trudge back to the dorm, it was half past eight. He leaned against the doorjamb with an exhausted sigh.

"What's wrong?" Boxman was looking at him strangely. He was already zipped into his filming jacket―the one with approximately a dozen pockets―with a full backpack slung over his shoulders.

"Apparently biochemistry is cancelled due to two measly inches of snow." He walked across the floor and slammed his papers into the textbook that lay open on the desk.

"At least you get extra time," Boxman said.

"I was almost done! And I had lab space rented out for Thursday. Now I won't be able to use it for the full hour because half of that will be spent playing catch-up on things I already know!" He fell into the nearby chair, arms crossed and brow furrowed in a bitter expression.

"Oh." Boxman cleared his throat quietly, then after a moment, he added in a whisper, "Does this mean you're free now?"

Venomous shot him a glare, but it soon melted into something like resignation. He sighed, "I guess so."

He has never seen Boxman light up so quickly. Venomous needed a few minutes to get ready, but he already looked ready to start bouncing off the walls. Despite the snow―which was _absolutely not_ worth canceling a class for, by the way―he was comfortable just throwing on a hoodie. Boxman, on the other hand, was shivering despite wearing multiple layers and carrying a bag full of heavy equipment.

"Doing okay?" Venomous asked as they kept trudging along the sidewalk.

"Just f-f-fine!" His reply came out somewhere between a shriek and a sneeze. Well then. This was looking to be a long night already.

"Uh-huh," Venomous mumbled skeptically. "How much further is this house anyway?"

"Three miles."

_"What."_

"No,no, no! We're not walking the whole way there. We're taking the bus." He gestured with one free arm to the frost-covered bus stop a few feet away.

Venomous was...less than impressed already. He had come along on a whim to begin with. Maybe it was because he was already agitated, but he suddenly regretted that he wasn't currently lying in bed with a mixtape of east coast jazz instead of being suffocated by the packed crowd of the Tuesday-night bus. Honestly, how was it still so choked with people at nine o' clock at night? At least he was crushed up against Boxman more so than the other passengers, which was awkward in its own way, but less so than being absorbed into a wall of strangers. Boxman looked equally put off judging by the embarassed look on his face. Venomous slid his shoulder to the side, trying to give him enough room to turn his head, but it ended up more like Boxman using him as a headrest. There wasn't anywhere else either of them could move, and despite their close proximity, Venomous had to put an arm around his shoulder him to keep them from being separated. Luckily, the ride eventually ended.

The relief when they touched down on the sidewalk was palpable, as was the rush of cold air that followed. Venomous shivered and zipped his jacket the rest of the way up while Boxman began digging out equipment. He retrieved a camcorder and what looked like a handheld microphone with half a sponge stuck over it before sliding his backpack back over his shoulders.

"Whew! My followers were right, this place definitely looks haunted," Boxman mused as they headed up the walkway of the house.

It certainly did. It was big too, all dark, worried wood, and shuttered windows.

"Sheesh, how long has this place been abandoned for?" Venomous muttered under his breath.

"Actually, only about a year," Boxman piped up as they made their way up the porch steps. "I did some digging, but apparently this was a new building. It was up for sale, but after it was bought, the owners just cleared out." He punctuated that last statement with a shrug.

Venomous squinted at the decrepit building before him. It must have been some haunting to make it look this bad that quickly. He was still skeptical about the place being haunted at all though. What could he say, he was still a scientist―but he could admit that the circumstances of the place were unusual given its condition. Boxman seemed perfectly at home though, camera in hand, setting up his opening shot in front of the door.

"Hey there, all you kids and crustaceans!" Oh cob what was he doing? "I am your host, Boxman, and this-"

Venomous didn't even get a second to protest before the camera was shoved in his face.

"Is my guest star, Doctor Venomous!"

"I haven't finished my doctorate yet." He protested weakly. He tried to push the camera back, but Boxman was already on the move again.

And we're here at―drumroll please―the abandoned house on 1031 Mockingbird Drive! I got a lot of requests for this one, and judging from the history I managed to dig up, this one should be very interesting! Now without further ado, let's take a gander inside!"

Venomous was ready to march back down the walkway and all the way back to the bus stop, but Boxman already had an arm pulled through his. He was yanking Venomous through the doorway before he could even take a step back. He didn't think Boxman was even strong enough to _do_ that, but it was too late to get out of it now. Oh well. He crossed his arms over his chest as he side-eyed Boxman, watching as he turned on a flashlight in his chest pocket before aiming the light―and his camcorder―at the staircase nearby.

"Despite it's decrepit appearance now, this building only finished construction two years ago. It had exactly one owner, who apparently fled in a rush, judging by the state of things."

He swept the light throughout the entryway, letting it bleed into the surrounding doorways. The beam landed on a few empty plates on the kitchen table, bookended by a couple of not-so-empty ones. "Yeesh, case in point."

He walked them toward the kitchen slowly. Venomous took the opportunity to unfurl his arm from his grip and nearly fell into the fridge nearby. He managed to land without stumbling too badly, but he had to grip the front of it to keep himself upright. The vibrations underneath his hand caught him off guard. They were very slight―he wondered for a second if he imagined it―but the whirring sounds that followed confirmed it. He traced the sound to the back of the fridge, where a couple of insulated tubes were still plugged into the wall. _Why does this building still have electricity?_

"-and although the building itself is new, it was built on top of the site of an old discotech. Never went there myself, but I did hear good things about..." Boxman's narration trailed off as he glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, you doing okay Vee?"

"Uh, yeah. Just fine." Venomous made a beeline for Boxman's corner of the kitchen. On his way there, he peered over the kitchen table, assessing the scene. Leftover food, possibly spoiled. The meat did not appear to be rotten though, what little there was. In the center of the table were the bony remnants of a large roast. They had been picked almost entirely clean. Some of the bones even looked broken, as if they had been snapped apart by the jaws of an animal.

"And if you look to your left here, you'll see the fireplace. Several people nearby have reported hearing howling coming from the chimney. Strong winds and strong imaginations? Or the howls of the angered dead? Let me know what you think in the comments below."

He followed close behind as Boxman made his way around the rest of the room. As he turned a corner into the living room, Boxman brushed against Venomous, making him back away on reflex. His hand bumped against the oven door, and the senasation made his blood turn colder than usual. Boxman was oblivious, perfectly content to wind his way between plastic-wrapped sofas until Venomous suddenly appeared at his back.

"And over here, you can find portraits of the previous owners that are still hung upon the wall."

"Boxman."

"Ghastly aren't they? And over here we have a mysterious splatter on the floor. Blood? Paint? Or something far more sinister?"

_"Boxman."_

"Now let's head over to the-"

"Boxman!" Venomous said through gritted teeth. He bit back the urge to shout, settling on grabbing Boxman's hand instead.

"Uh, Vee?" he sputtered. "What's wrong?"

"Boxman," he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper. "The stove is still warm."

The way Boxman's eyes lit up at that was not at all comforting. "You're kidding?"

"No, I am _not_ kidding. I don't think we're alone," he said more urgently.

"Well that's the idea," Boxman chuckled.

 _"No!_ We need to-"

He did not get the chance to finish. Instead, he was cut off by a deep rumble that seemed to shake the entire house to its foundation. _"Get out..."_

Venomous let out an involuntary noise of surprise. Boxman, to his surprise, looked unfazed. Scratch that, he looked downright excited.

"Wow! Real feedback!" He fiddled with some buttons on the microphone before raising it in the air. "Are you the previous owner of this house?"

 _"GET OOOUT!"_ The rumble turned sharp. Venomous watched, dumbfounded, as the windows around them started to crack. The whole room was shaking.

"Boxman, we have to go!" he shouted.

The other rolled his eyes, but he relented anyway. "Alright, _fine_ , I've got enough for the meat and potatoes of it. I'll just come back for some b-roll in the morning." He did not put his camera away, but he did take Venomous's wrist and start to drag him toward the entryway.

The scraping sound of wood on wood was their only warning before a sofa raced across the floor to block their path. Venomous pulled Boxman behind him as he stepped back, darting toward the opposite doorway and jumping as a chair attempted to block their exit. They barely made it over, landing in a stumble and getting caught between four moving side tables instead. Venomous braced his arms against the tabletops and tried to haul himself up, but as he did, they quickly moved apart and then snapped closed again. He dodged it, landing on his side on the floor, but Boxman was still trapped. Smaller objects around the room were swirling overhead, including the food and flatware from the kitchen. Boxman threw off his backpack and tried to pull himself free the way his roommate did, but the tables wouldn't budge. A bunch of forms and knives rotated their points toward him, moving back a few inches before flying toward him as if they had been released from a bowstring.

"Boxman!" Venomous shouted. He scrambled to his feet and rammed into Boxman, pushing him down and kicking one of the tables away. He pulled him away from the chaos before he could react and the two of them started a disorganized clamber toward the stairwell. The door was in sight, but they still being chased by moving knickknacks. Venomous ducked just in time to miss getting hit by a clock, which missed and hit the window instead. The angry voice overhead was still booming, but beneath it, he could still hear Boxman shriek.

"Oh Venomous I'm sorry! I shouldn't have brought you here!" he squeaked. Venomous had never seen him so panicked.

He looped his arm over his shoulder more tightly, unable to respond, when all of a sudden the activity just...stopped. The voice was replaced by the cacophony of objects falling to the floor in unison. The pair kept walking on autopilot, but they couldn't help looking around the room, puzzled. What happened? A new sound was coming from down the stairs though, one that made them both tense up. Footsteps.

"What is going _on_ here?" A new voice shrieked, but this one was not nearly as menacing as the previous. The lights suddenly clicked on as the pair turned around. The face of the woman staring at them was plenty menacing on its own. "Who are you people?"

Boxman was already too far gone to speak, unable to stutter out more than a couple of fragments. Venomous was dead silent, trying to think his way around the alarm bells going off in his head.

"Wilhamena? What's going on―oh." A large shadow approached the doorway, and the deep voice that rumbled closer only made the pair more nervous. Venomous could not help throwing his arms around his roommate as the figure stepped into the light, revealing―of all things―a werewolf. A werewolf who was easily twice as broad and tall as either one of them. And he did not look happy.

"Well now," the man growled. His mouth pulled back in a grin, revealing his sharp, yellow teeth. "What do we have here?"

"Intruders, by the look of it." The woman practically purred. Her glare turned to a poisonous smirk that made Boxman gulp involuntarily. She stood up a little straighter, suddenly looming over them. "Tell me Bernard, should we teach them just what we _do_ to intruders?"

The werewolf chuckled. "You know what, we _should."_

Venomous's heart was racing. Cob-darn his stupid powers for disappearing! He tried to steel himself, but he wanted nothing better than to sink into the floor.

"Yes," the woman hissed. Her grin widened, and a pair of fangs descended below her upper lip, looking all too eager. "Let's devour their souls!"

Boxman screamed before they could even take a step forward, but his outburst was overshadowed by a much louder one. It sounded much more shrill and much further away. The effect was immediate though, because the angry faces of the strangers suddenly turned to worry.

"Enid?" the woman shrieked, but before she could move, an apparition appeared behind her, startling them all.

"Easy, easy, the tyke is fine."

This phantasm was alarmingly solid, save for the fact that they could see the other room through its body. It took the form of a lanky man in a bowler hat. He cooed to a small bundle in his arms, turning it toward the woman so she could see the face of the crying infant.

"She's perfectly fine, Wilhamena, I think she just got a bit startled is all. Didn't you, doll?" He brushed his nose against the baby's, earning a surprised little giggle.

Boxman silenced the room with a thump as he fell forward into the floor, earning several curious looks. "We are so sorry!" he pleaded. The distraction had bought them a moment, but only that, so he had to make use of it now. "I am _so_ sorry for the intrusion. My intel told me that this house was abandoned! So my―ahem― _colleague_ and I felt we were within our right to investigate the paranormal events that were said to go on here."

The three figures all looked confused, but that confusion soon turned into raucous laughter. Venomous couldn't help letting out a quiet "what?" under his breath at the display. If he had been able to read the room before, that ability was long gone now. He was still clutching Boxman close, but he didn't care. He traded a confused look with the man, who looked about as incredulous as he felt.

"Ahahahahaha!" Wilhamena wheezed. "Oh dear, seems there's been quite a misunderstanding here."

Bernard wiped a stray tear from his eye. "I suppose you folks weren't completely wrong. There's plenty of paranormal activity around here, but it's far from being abandoned."

"We've been here about a year now." Wilhamena took the baby into her own arms and rocked her slowly against her hip. "Just finished fixing the place up too."

"Yep. It's plenty spooky now!" Bernard made a grand sweep of his arm at the decrepit fixtures. "I weathered those sconces myself. Pretty cool, right?"

"Uh, yes?" Venomous still looked miles away. He was still hung up on the part where they weren't going to die on camera. "So the angry voice, the broken windows, that was all...him?"

He pointed to the ghost in question, causing the man to flinch.

Bernard narrowed his eyes. "You did _what_ to the windows?"

"Eheh nah, nah! That was Spanky! I just did the voice!" he laughed half-heartedly, but he still had his hands up in front of him.

The two intruders tensed up as a second apparition rose through the floor between him and the wolfman. This one was shorter, more plump, and wearing a striped shirt.

"Hey! Now don't go throwing _me_ under the bus!" he barked. "That's how I died the first time." He turned to Bernard. "Crudde and I both did it. But they're not completely broken! Just some spiderweb cracks is all."

"Oh! I was thinking about adding some of those."

"Yeah! They match the cobwebs in the corner nicely don't they?"

He marched over to the kitchen windows, looking pensive. "Hm-mm, not bad, not bad. Although we should probably add another up here on the left, just to even it out."

"You got it!" Spanky hit the window with a translucent fist, and a fresh crack spread out in a circle from where it landed.

While they had been forgotten in the moment, Venomous was well past being ready to leave. He nudged Boxman gently with his elbow and the two moved a few inches apart, just enough room to let him dust himself off. He cleared his throat, and every head in the room swiveled to look at him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, and again, I am very sorry that we intruded. It won't happen again, so is there any way that we could get going?"

Wilhamena looked deep in thought for a moment, then glanced at Bernard. "I suppose we _could_ let you go..."

Boxman let out a sigh of relief, but she shushed him with one finger.

"But," she continued, "On one condition."

"Anything," he said quickly.

She walked around to his side and stared at the fallen camcorder for a moment before plucking it off the floor with her free hand. "We'll be taking this as payment for disturbing us."

His face went blank for a moment. "I rescind my previous state-mmf!"

"Yes, of course! That sounds perfectly _fine,"_ Venomous punctured the last word with a snarl in Boxman's direction. It was enough to shut him up the rest of the way. He kept covering his mouth with his hand as he smiled pleasantly at the group. "Anyway, we'll be on our way. Thanks for having us." He even waved as he opened the door, pleased to find it unlocked and ushered himself and Boxman out.

"What was that?" he screeched as soon as the door shut behind him.

"It took me months to save up for that equiptment! My backpack is still in there!" Boxman argued.

"We're lucky we're still alive! Worry about your stuff later!" Venomous huffed. His anger was quick to melt away though, giving way to clear fatigue. "I want to go home."

Boxman opened his mouth to say something, then nodded. They made their way back to the bus stop in silence, only shivering occassionally at the cold night air. They had about twenty minutes to wait before the last bus came, and Venomous was in no mood to talk through it. Boxman wouldn't let him have it.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Um, I mean it when I said that I'm sorry for bringing you here. I didn't think this would happen."

Venomous glared at him, then his expression softened. He sighed, "It's not your fault. I admit, it was pretty exciting."

Boxman smiled slightly at that. They didn't talk anymore until the bus arrived. It was far less crowded this time, thankfully, but that didn't stop him from scooting close to Venomous once they sat down. He offered his shoulder so he could lean on him and was surprised when Venomous grew heavy against his side. Going by how calm his face was, he had managed to fall asleep. Boxman wasn't about to complain. It certainly wasn't the worst thing to happen today. Besides, he could wait to wake him until they finished the trip.


End file.
